CAG raps Assam govt for massive unauthorized expenditure
The CAG in its report has detected excess expenditure of Rs 10,004.29 crore, which it said required regularization under Article 205.
Guwahati: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has rapped Assam government for its unauthorized and irregular expenditure incurred by various departments.
The CAG in its report has detected excess expenditure of Rs 10,004.29 crore, which it said required regularization under Article 205 of the Constitution of India. Article 205 makes it mandatory for the state government to get the excess over a grant or appropriation regularized by the state legislature.
The report pointed out that in five cases under five different grants during 2016-17, expenditure of Rs 3,826.93 crore exceeded the approved provision by Rs 1,348.44 crore and also by more than 20 per cent of the total provision.
According to Assam Budget manual, the expenditure should not be incurred on a scheme or services without provision of funds. The audit, however, noticed that expenditure of Rs 3,334.38 crore was incurred in 53 cases without any provision in the original estimates or supplementary demand and without issue of any re-appropriation orders(s) to that effect.
The CAG in its observation said, “The cases of excess expenditure over grants are serious matter and are in violation. It is important that responsibility is fixed in this regard to discourage this practice.”
The CAG has also pulled up the subsequent governments since 2001 for not submitting the utilization certificate. “11,641 Utilisation Certificates (UCs) in respect of grants aggregating Rs 24,907.26 crore paid to 53 departments of the state government during the period from 2001-02 to 2016-17 were in arrears," the CAG said in its reports.
The report said that out of the total pending UCs, 7,067 certificates worth Rs 4,614.22 crore are pending for more than three years, while 19 departments even failed to submit UCs in respect of grants released to them during the period 2001-02.
While referring that CAG has made similar observations in earlier reports also, the CAG said, “The state government did not make efforts to ensure submission of UCs by respective departments within the prescribed time frame."
It further said that in the absence of the UCs, audit could not ascertain whether the recipients had utilised the grants for the purpose for which those were given.